And now…drum roll please….there is a healthier version!! It took a couple of trials, and a few wasted cookies, but today’s recipe gives you a yummy cookie that tastes so close to the real thing that you won’t know you’re missing half of the saturated fat and less sugar.

That’s right, a chewy cookie with chocolate chips and without worrying about the fact that there were 2 sticks of butter in the batter. Yay!

Lighter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 40 cookies

1 1/2 cups dried, pitted dates

3 Tbsp warm water

6 Tbsp unsalted butter or margarine, softened

2/3 packed light brown sugar

2 egg whites

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (*omit if using salted butter)

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Place dates and water into a food processor. Process until well pureed (about 1-2 minutes), scraping sides of food processor partway through.

In a large bowl, mix together the pureed dates, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Mix in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add half of dry mixture to butter mixture and stir just until combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto baking sheets. These cookies don’t spread very much, so you can put them fairly close together. Flatten cookies a bit once you have the batter on the baking sheet. (Keep in mind they don’t spread so they’ll be the same circumference after baking)

Bake 9-10 minutes, or until edges begin to golden. Remove to a cooling rack directly after taking them out of the oven.

Meet the Baker

I'd love for you to try these recipes and share with friends and family! But please give credit to your source.
Content and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Little Bit Sweet with direction to the original content. Contact me if you'd like to use any material! Thanks :)